Tag Archives: nepali buddhism app

About this android app:
The ‘Best Buddha Quotes’ app brings into the android market the hand picked best and greatest quotes by Buddha. There are more than 120 quotes in the database and we have made the navigation extremely user friendly. Whether you want to use the left and right arrow, or just want to swipe the fingers to navigate sequentially through the apps, we have provided those abilities. If you are impatient to go through the quotes sequentially and want a surprise, just shake your phone for a random quote. There is also a ‘Random’ button that when clicked produces a random quote. Beyond the quotes, this app provides information about Buddha, the noble eightfold path and the four noble truth.

This is a great app to learn the simplicity of Buddhism and is a must have app for every Buddhists or curious non-Buddhist to learn the simple truths of life all from the eyes of Enlightened Gautam Buddha.

Since we release the apps for Free, we believe we deserve to monetize them by placing some ads. You can always skip the ads and continue with our fully functional applications.We listen to our users feedback positively and try to improve upon as much as there is room for improvement. Please direct any of your comments, questions, queries or even your own one liners to be included in our app to CONTACT AT SANJAAL DOT COM.

v1.7
+ Added 21 new verified quotes by Buddha (now 154 total)
+ Realigned the buttons and some backgrounds for better look
+ Made the text size on buttons bigger
+ Added ability to see app version number in About section
+ Fixed an issue with AppFire

v1.6
+ Fixed a null pointer error introduced in v1.5

v1.5
+ Fixed an error that was preventing users from exiting the app
+ Upgraded to LeadBolt 6, included AppFire

v1.4
+ Removed the Notification Bar advertisement to comply with Google’s app policy
+ Removed the Home Icon advertisement to comply with Google’s App Policy
+ Added feature to allow users to rate the app after certain usage
+ Modified the look to have golden background for buttons and some text fields
+ Added Special Offers section with recommendations of some free cool apps
+ Fixed some bugs that caused the app to crash on certain phones

If you have any questions, concerns or feedback, please contact us by sending us an email to contact AT sanjaal DOT com

Screenshots:

About Buddha:
Gautama Buddha or Siddhartha Gautama Buddha was a spiritual teacher born in Kapilvastu which lies in Lumbini Zone in Nepal (which was Indian subcontinent at the time of his birth), on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.

The word Buddha is a title for the first awakened being in an era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha of our age, “Buddha” meaning “awakened one” or “the enlightened one.” Gautama Buddha may also be referred to as Shakyamuni.

Gautama taught a Middle Way compared to the severe asceticism found in the Sramana (renunciation) movement common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala.

The time of Gautama’s birth and death is uncertain: most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE, but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE. However, at a specialist symposium on this question held in 1988 in Gottingen, the majority of those scholars who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha’s death, with others supporting earlier or later dates. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet been accepted by all other historians.

Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

Most scholars regard Kapilavastu, present-day Nepal, to be the birthplace of the Buddha. According to the most traditional biography, Buddha was born in a royal Hindu family to King Suddhodana, the leader of Shakya clan, whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha’s lifetime. Gautama was the family name. His mother, Queen Maha Maya (Mayadevi) and Suddhodana’s wife, was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father’s kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.

Siddhartha was born in a royal Hindu family. He was brought up by his mother’s younger sister, Maha Pajapati. By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince, and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him. Although more recent scholarship doubts this status, his father, said to be King Suddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering. When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his marriage to a cousin of the same age named Yasodhara. According to the traditional account, she gave birth to a son, named Rahula. Siddhartha is then said to have spent 29 years as a prince in Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha felt that material wealth was not life’s ultimate goal.

At the age of 29, the popular biography continues, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father’s efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome ageing, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic. Accompanied by Channa and aboard his horse Kanthaka, Gautama quit his palace for the life of a mendicant. It’s said that, “the horse’s hooves were muffled by the gods” to prevent guards from knowing of his departure.

Gautama initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. After King Bimbisara’s men recognised Siddhartha and the king learned of his quest, Bimisara offered Siddhartha the throne. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.

He left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers. After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama, he was asked by Kalama to succeed him. However, Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practise, and moved on to become a student of Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra). With him he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness, and was again asked to succeed his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied, and again moved on.

Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya are then said to have set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practising self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season’s plowing. He attained a concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhāna.

According to the early Buddhist texts, after realizing that meditative jhana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn’t work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way — a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata. Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish.

Following this incident, Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree—now known as the Bodhi tree—in Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until he had found the truth. Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment. According to some traditions, this occurred in approximately the fifth lunar month, while, according to others, it was in the twelfth month. From that time, Gautama was known to his followers as the Buddha or “Awakened One” (“Buddha” is also sometimes translated as “The Enlightened One”). He is often referred to in Buddhism as Shakyamuni Buddha, or “The Awakened One of the Shakya Clan.”

According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the “Four Noble Truths”, which are at the heart of Buddhist teaching. Through mastery of these truths, a state of supreme liberation, or Nirvana, is believed to be possible for any being. The Buddha described Nirvana as the perfect peace of a mind that’s free from ignorance, greed, hatred and other afflictive states, or “defilements” (kilesas). Nirvana is also regarded as the “end of the world”, in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain. In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.

According to a story in the Ayacana Sutta— a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons — immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. However, in the story, Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some will understand it. The Buddha relented, and agreed to teach.

About Noble Eightfold Path:
The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering (dukkha) and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena (or reality) and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion. The Noble Eightfold Path is the fourth of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths; the first element of the Noble Eightfold Path is, in turn, an understanding of the Four Noble Truths. It is also known as the Middle Path or Middle Way.

The eight noble eightfold path are normally written in the summarized form as:

Right View

Right Intention

Right Speech

Right Action

Right Livelihood

Right Effort

Right Mindfulness

Right Concentration

Four Noble Truths:
The Four Noble Truths are regarded as the central doctrine of the Buddhist tradition, and are said to provide a conceptual framework for all of Buddhist thought. These four truths explain the nature of dukkha (commonly translated as “suffering”, “anxiety”, “stress”, “dissatisfaction”), its causes, and how it can be overcome.

According to the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha first taught the four noble truths in the very first teaching he gave after he attained enlightenment, as recorded in the discourse Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dharma, and he further clarified their meaning in many subsequent teachings.

The four noble truths are:

The truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction)

The truth of the origin of dukkha

The truth of the cessation of dukkha

The truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha

[Some of the text was taken from Wikipedia under Creative Commons License]